Conservatives breaking key pledges to farmers

DEFRA have confirmed that farm payments in England will be reduced by 5-25% next year, depending on the band of direct payments.

In December 2019 the UK Government confirmed funding for the Basic Payments Scheme in Wales would remain the same for 2020. This announcement suggests this funding will be reduced for Wales from 2021 onwards.

Jane Dodds, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, commented:

Boris Johnson and the Conservatives have been promising since 2016 that farmers would not be worse off because of Brexit. Today’s announcement shows just how hollow those promises were.

I’m deeply concerned that UK Government funding for farming in Wales could also be cut next year. This would undermine all the Welsh Government’s work to provide financial certainty for our farmers, who already face more challenging conditions than their colleagues across the UK.

During last year’s general election campaign Michael Gove personally promised Scottish Farmers the Conservatives would protect farm funding for the lifetime of this Parliament. I trust Mr Gove won’t break his promise to Scottish farmers and that Welsh farmers will enjoy the same guarantee.

The UK Government must urgently give clarity on the future funding for farming in Wales and Conservative MPs from rural seats should stand up for this funding. Failure to do so will show they care more about toeing their party’s line than actually standing up for the communities they claim to represent.

Ed Davey pays tribute to Her Majesty The Queen in Parliament

Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, paid tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in Parliament. The deep mourning across the country now – just like the celebrations of her Jubilee a few months ago – comes not from a sense of duty, but from genuine and heartfelt affection, love and admiration of Her Majesty. It's not because we were her subjects, but because she was truly our Queen. What she meant to us is perhaps best summed up by a phrase on so many people’s lips over the last twenty-four hours: “I can’t imagine our country without her.” For almost everyone in the country, she has been there our whole lives. At times of national grief and national jubilation, she has never not been there for us. So it is hard to accept that she is gone. And hard to see how we go on without her. But we will. Our great United Kingdom has a great future – because The Queen’s spirit of strength, grace and resolve lives on in her people. One of the great...

Jeremy Hunt’s Financial Statement Offers Only Uncertainty for Welsh Families

Commenting on Jeremy Hunt’s shock economic intervention Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said: “Hunt’s statement points to the despicable damage that the Conservatives continue to wreck on households, businesses and individuals. All his statement today has done is cause wider uncertainty for households and the businesses sector. “The Conservatives are trashing the economy with every day that passes and creating havoc for peoples’ mortgages. Now they are planning to inflict even more suffering by raising energy bills, hiking taxes and slashing crucial public services. These service cuts will see knock-on effects to the Welsh Government as budgets for key departments like education and health may be squeezed even tighter. “What’s worst is they are still determined to protect oil and gas giants from a proper windfall tax and they are still cutting taxes for the big banks. “Truss and Kwarteng are symptoms of a wider problem....

Ed Davey: Government is failing Afghan people

The idea of the Taliban getting closer to power in Afghanistan is very worrying indeed. That it comes at a time when we are withdrawing troops and slashing foreign aid by 78% shows astonishing irresponsibility on behalf of our government. You can’t just walk away and leave people in the lurch as we are doing. Ed Davey has spoken of his concerns about the advance of the Taliban: As the Taliban take swathes of territory on their advance towards Kabul, millions of women and girls are facing the prospect of a new era of injustice, inequality and brutality – while the potential for a new vector of international terrorism forms across Afghanistan. Meanwhile the UK is failing to meet its moral obligation to those interpreters who risked their lives supporting our troops, while our international development spending in Afghanistan has been slashed. The spectre of a new security threat is looming. The UK government must work urgently with our international partners because right now we ar...

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